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Cancer Patient Stories

UAMS provides the most comprehensive cancer services in Arkansas. Along with our comprehensive care, we work to offer compassionate care for our patients. A measure of how well we succeed is hearing stories like these from patients who were treated at UAMS.

For her fight with breast cancer, Stacy Sells chose the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Stacy selected UAMS in part because, “I didn’t just have an oncologist, but I had an entire team of five brilliant doctors.”

Lindsay Hale-Bender relates, “Devon (her sister) and I had double mastectomies eight days apart, and we went through treatment and recovery together. Sharing this experience as a family at UAMS and being able to laugh and cry together has made all the difference in the world.”

3-year-old Asher Ray was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer affecting only 225 people in the United States each year. Because of the treatment she receives from UAMS and ACH, she’s still in the fight. Asher’s parents have high hopes for her future. Her doctors wouldn’t have it any other way.

Lori Pitcock, Melissa Norris and Andee Pitcock are one group of best friends forever who want to help each other make that important date every year. While Melissa takes a lot of steps to take care of her health, including regular exercise as a runner, she was surprised to realize that while time was passing quickly, years had passed since her last mammogram.

Breast cancer is not something most people even associate with men. “It’s kind of embarrassing to me because I’m a United States Marine, and Marines don’t get breast cancer,” UAMS patient Gerry Vickers said..

Tired, worn down and fighting off the routine rigors of an intense residency program, Samantha McKelvey, M.D., was too focused on the many tasks at hand to pay much mind to her own physical well-being.

Breast cancer survivor Paula Rogers knows the difference that a simple act of kindness can make. “Dr. Klimberg took my hand and led the gurney to the operating room. I went to sleep with her holding my hand.”

For a year, Rhonda Ellis’ left hip popped and ached when she ran. The elementary school teacher and mother of two boys was too busy to have it looked at. Still, it nagged at her on her daily run as she logged up to 35 miles a week.

The cancer in Pat Longinotti’s throat was in a surgical no man’s land – at the base of his tongue. Removing the small tumor the traditional way would require a risky, disfiguring operation, said Emre Vural, M.D., a head and neck cancer surgeon..

The rock’n’roll lifestyle doesn’t allow a nagging sore on your tongue to slow you down, and it surely isn’t a very “punk-rock” detail to complain about. After all, Larry Massanet, 42, still had unhampered use of two thundering arms to pummel his drum kit with while keeping beat in two active bands in which he plays.

If you had seen Catherine Wood Burton jogging the trails of Allsopp Park in Little Rock, you would have thought she was the picture of perfect health. But Catherine’s journey from near death to new life began with an appendectomy that led to a cancer diagnosis and ended with the birth of a healthy baby girl.

Claudia Jessup’s life has taken her in many directions. Twenty years ago, she and her husband, Jonathan Richards, moved their young family from New York to Santa Fe, N.M. Jessup, an author, and Richards, a journalist and cartoonist, knew they could relocate their careers cross country with relative ease, while also giving their two daughters a safer and more child-friendly environment in which to grow up.

UAMS is the first in Arkansas and one of a handful of medical centers in the country offering a new surgical alternative to treat lymphedema, the chronic arm swelling frequently associated with breast cancer treatment.

The weeks surrounding Valentine’s Day 2008 were heart-wrenching for Brian and Jennifer Odle. But because of an innovative use of cord blood and a strong-willed 18-month-old baby girl, the family’s memories of that winter soon evolved into a heartwarming affair.

Debra Myton has a story of hope, healing and faith that she wants to share with the world. That’s why the 40-year-old ovarian cancer survivor has decided to share her saga with readers in the form of a book, which she intends to pen sometime this year. With the help of her physician, Juan Roman, M.D., associate professor in the UAMS Division of Gynecology Oncology, the happy ending is right on track.

Tickets were bought, reservations were made, an itinerary was planned and all that was left to do was say, “adios, America” and “hola, Spain and Portugal.” There was just that fateful routine check-up with her doctor in Shreveport, La., that was left to fit in before Mona Morgan and her husband, Eddie, jetted off to Europe for the vacation of a lifetime.

Many Arkansans will recall the havoc wreaked by the icy winter of 2000. Herman Davenport of Little Rock could deal with power outages and slippery streets, but when the second storm of the season delayed the results of hisprostate cancer biopsy, he struggled to keep his cool.

When Rita James was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991, it stirred painful memories. Her mother died of breast cancer in 1969 at age 47. That’s just two years older than Rita was at the time of her diagnosis.

“An orthopedic surgeon saved my life. When my local doctor identified a tumor of the pelvis, he said I needed an orthopedic oncologist. I first researched several nationally known medical centers. Then I met Dr. Nicholas at UAMS.”

Mark Matthews was treated at UAMS when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He recommends when you get a cancer diagnosis: “When I was 49, my doctor discovered prostate cancer during a routine physical. Knowing that the Arkansas Cancer Research Center at UAMS had a great reputation, I decided that they were the best choice for me.”

When attorney Ken Stoll of North Little Rock was diagnosed in 1991 with multiple myeloma, many would have called it a death sentence. He now thanks his doctor who referred him to the then-fledgling program for multiple myeloma at UAMS.

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"Life's most persistent and urgent question is "What are you doing for others?'"- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Supporting one another during times of illness is especially important. A good example of this is UAMS Myeloma Center patient Gail Naimo (right) of Port St. Lucie, Fla., who was relentless in encouraging fellow myeloma patient Sergio Pinango (center) of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and his wife Blanca Nieto (left) to visit and seek treatment at UAMS. The three friends, who met on a myeloma Facebook page five years ago, are part of a group of nearly a dozen Florida-based myeloma patients and caregivers who share a strong friendship and gather regularly to support and fellowship with one another.

After pursuing treatments at several other medical facilities, Sergio and Blanca followed their friend's advice in 2017 and sought treatment at UAMS Myeloma Center. Today, under the care of Dr. Frits van Rhee, Sergio has been in stringent, complete remission for a year. His scans before and after treatment at UAMS Myeloma Center speak volumes!

"If they wouldn't have come when they did, he probably wouldn't be here today," Gail said recently. ... See MoreSee Less